Post updated at 1:50 p.m. Monday, May 19:
Eastern Kansas is at an enhanced risk for severe weather Monday afternoon and evening, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka.
“Very large hail, damaging winds will be the main hazards. A few tornadoes will also be possible and flooding risk may rise if storms (are) slow to move out of the area,” according to an advisory from NWS.
The area is likely to see some isolated and scattered storms around 1 to 3 p.m., followed by the main line of storms around 6 to 8 p.m., according to Douglas County Emergency Management.
Storms could include 2-inch hail and winds of 60-70 mph, according to the department.
The NWS issued a tornado watch around 1:45 p.m., effective until 9 p.m. Monday, for the eastern half of Kansas and the western portion of Missouri.
A tornado watch means that conditions are right for a tornado to be possible, and people should be prepared; a tornado warning means that a tornado has been spotted or indicated by weather radar, and people should seek cover.
Emergency Management’s test of the outdoor warning siren system scheduled for noon Monday was canceled because of the possibility of severe weather. Sirens are typically tested on the first and third Mondays of the months of March through July, and on the first Mondays only of the months of August through February.
Some storms are expected overnight into Tuesday, but most of the rest of the week is expected to be sunny and mostly clear. There’s a chance of storms starting up again Friday and continuing throughout the weekend, as of Monday’s forecast.
The Lawrence area got about .15 inches of precipitation on Sunday, according to NWS records. So far this month, the area has seen about 0.6 inches of precipitation, well below the normal 2.7 inches.
See links to more severe weather information and resources below.
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Severe weather resources
Evergy outages:
• Check the status of power outages on the Evergy outage map, outagemap.evergy.com.
• Report a power outage at evergy.com/report-outage, or call 800-544-4857.
• For down powerlines, call Evergy’s emergency line, 800-383-1183, if above-ground lines are arcing or making contact with trees or vegetation. Call 911 immediately if overhead power lines are on the ground or a fire starts. Do not go near the line.
National Weather Service local office (Topeka):
• Find the latest weather forecast info and severe weather advisories for the Lawrence area at this link.
• In the event of rapidly changing severe weather, such as tornadoes, the NWS posts frequent updates on Twitter, @NWSTopeka. You do not need a Twitter account to see tweets from NWS.
• NWS is also on Facebook, facebook.com/NWSTopeka.
• Call 785-234-2592 to hear the forecast.
Douglas County Emergency Management:
• Follow @DgCoEM on Twitter or Douglas County, KS- Emergency Management on Facebook, facebook.com/dgcoem.
• Sign up to receive emergency alerts at dgcoks.org/emalerts.
• Find lots of tips on severe weather and other emergency preparedness on DgCoEM’s website at douglascountyks.org/emergency-management.
• Report storm damage (for non-emergencies only, and after storm danger has passed) by calling the nonemergency dispatch line at 785-843-0250 or 785-832-7509.
City of Lawrence snow info:
• The city has snow information and a map at lawrenceks.org/snow that shows information about road conditions and where snowplows have been. The city typically begins snow and ice control for residential roadways when 2 or more inches of snowfall or icing occurs.
Get warm in Lawrence:
• See this page for locations to get warm during the day and overnight, where to get help for pets and more.
Highway conditions beyond Lawrence:
• KanDrive, an app and website from the Kansas Department of Transportation, has info on highway conditions statewide. KanDrive is available online at KanDrive.gov, and its app is available for download free on the App Store and Google Play.
Air quality:
• Check the current air quality index in Lawrence and elsewhere through AirNow, airnow.gov.
Latest Lawrence news:
Maya Hodison/Lawrence Times
